Sometime before Sony hero shooter Concord released, before it was even fully revealed to the public, the producers of Amazon TV series Secret Level—a collection of animated videogame shorts premiering on Prime Video on December 10—started working on an episode based on the game.The episode, which I've seen in advance of the show's premiere, was supposed to drop in a world where Concord was, if not a Helldivers 2-level hit, a popular and well-liked game. In reality,.
The Secret Level episode portrays the most important moment in the history of the Freegunners, when a heroic crew of outlaws stole a map of navigation routes that allow free travel through the galaxy for enemies of The Guild, a powerful policing body. The episode comes across like a transmission from a spirit that doesn't know it's dead yet, one that still believes everything went right for Concord and the new game studio. It's the 13th episode of the series—unlucky, eh?—and it'll drop on December 17, although I found its eerie context more notable than the short story itself.
Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call"boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade . Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.